This invention is related generally to the field of disposable dishware for serving foods and beveragesxe2x80x94and, more particularly, to the field of combined cup and tray devices for portable use by persons who are consuming meals while xe2x80x9con the go.xe2x80x9d
In the field of prepared-food service and dining, it is very common today for restaurants and other prepared-food outlets to serve people meals, typically made up of one or more food items together with a beverage, in or on disposable containers and/or food-holders of various types (e.g., disposable cups, plates, cartons, trays, wraps, etc.). This is typically done in what is referred to as the xe2x80x9cfast-foodxe2x80x9d industry.
Diners involved in today""s fast-paced living often are not seated at tables which provide horizontal surfaces on which to set their filled containers and/or food-holders. Instead, they are in situations in which no tabletop or the like is available and find themselves standing, driving, or engaged in activities in which it is helpful or required to have at least one hand free for some purpose.
For example, fast-food restaurants, particularly those having a xe2x80x9cdrive-throughxe2x80x9d capability, usually serve a typical customer the customer""s selection of one to three solid food items (e.g., hamburgers or other sandwiches, french fries, onion rings, tacos, pieces of pie) along with a selected beverage (e.g., milkshakes, carbonated beverages, fruit juice or coffee). Sometimes the vehicle driver, particularly if he or she is alone, may find it necessary to hold both the food and the beverage with one hand, while keeping the other hand free for steering and/or other vehicle operations.
Another example is the widely-used practice at many parties and social functions of serving each guest one or more food items on a plate along with a hot or cold beverage in a cup (or the like). If a table or other horizontal support surface is unavailable, the guest may try using the hand which is holding the beverage container to move food from the plate to his or her mouth. Or, the guest sometimes attempts to balance the beverage container on the plate in order to free one hand for eating or some other purpose, such as opening a door or shaking hands with another person. Such practices often tend to be awkward, and can frequently result in spillage and other undesirable consequences. The same sort of problem is frequently encountered at sporting events and other entertainment events where refreshments are consumed by people with no table nearby, regardless of whether the people may be standing or sitting while eating.
The prior art includes many typically-disposable dishware and/or cup-plate combinations. However, prior devices fail to adequately solve the continuing problems faced by persons consuming meals xe2x80x9con the go.xe2x80x9d A number of specific disadvantages and shortcomings characterize the prior art, as will be seen by reference to various prior United States patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,820 (Boerner) discloses a plate or tray which interfaces with a centrally-located beverage container via downward extensions from the tray which are either rigid or foldable and which extend along the beverage container. A person using the Boerner device grasps the extension(s) and the container simultaneously. This combination must be gripped in order to remain engaged, and it must be separated in order to drink.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,737 (Patterson et al.) discloses plate-and-glass assembly which allows a person to carry a plate and a centrally-located drinking glass in one hand. The plates and glasses are engaged by what might be referred to as rail, tab or wedge system on the underside of the plate which allows a beverage container to be slidably or twistably received to centrally support the plate. The combination, must be disengaged for drinking purposes, requires customized beverage containers with mating lugsxe2x80x94to engage lugs on the undersides of the plates. This combination is a complex and impractical device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,283 (Patterson et al.) discloses another plate-and-glass assembly which allows a person to carry a plate and a centrally-located drinking glass in one hand. The plate has a U-shaped channel on it and the glass (beverage container) is slidably received into engagement with the plate around a portion of the container. The ""283 patent includes a drinking straw port, and uses a straw as a means to prevent unintended disengagement of the combination. This device does not allow for a complete seal of the container. Furthermore, it is impractical and uneconomical to manufacture at least in that it requires xe2x80x9ca holder fabricated as a separate component and subsequently attached to a plate.xe2x80x9d
U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,028 (Patterson et al.) discloses a number of complex plate-and-glass assemblies which allow a person to carry a plate and a centrally-located drinking glass in one hand. The plates and glasses are engaged by what might be referred to as rail, tab or wedge systems on the undersides of the plates which allow beverage containers (e.g., beverage cans) to be slidably or twistably received to centrally support the plate. The ""028 patent includes a drinking straw port. These devices are complex multi-part devices which are impractical to manufacture and use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,373 (McKee) discloses a plate which interfaces with a beverage container utilizing a press-fit V-type friction-engagement groove. The plate has a centrally-located upwardly-extending annulus which forms (1) the V-groove on the underside of the plate for frictional engagement with the container lip and (2) a female receptacle on the top of the plate within which to place the bottom of the cup (on top of the plate) or an ashtray. The plate has a central hole to receive a straw. When the container is engaged beneath the plate, the lack of a positive engagement may be problematic, particularly when substantial non-distributed loads are placed on edge portions of the plate. As with certain other prior art, the plate has no means for reinforcement to resist excessive flexing under non-distributed loads.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,743 (Costarella), U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,125 (Roberts) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,164 (Beck) disclose further combinations in which beverage containers fit within plates via holes through, or raised receptacles in, plates.
Mobile-dining mealholders used in various situations are susceptible to substantial downward loading forces, both from the weight of foodstuffs thereon and from movements which occur during dining. There is a need for an improved mobile-dining mealholder which is of a light weight favoring disposability but which (1) still functions to provide support against such downward loading forces, (2) has excellent detachable sealing engagement to avoid risks of beverage spilling, and (3) instills excellent user confidence with its support and containment functions during usage, even though held by only one hand. The following objects of the invention are indicative of various problems and shortcomings in the prior art.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved mobile-dining mealholder and mealholder plate-lid overcoming problems and shortcomings of the prior art.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved mobile-dining mealholder having a detachably-secured plate-lid and beverage container which are held in firm engagement together so that, even when the sole support for the mealholder is by the user""s grasp of the beverage container, solid foodstuffs may be reliably and confidently supported on the plate-lid as dining proceeds.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mobile-dining mealholder having a detachably-secured plate-lid and beverage container which are held in reliable sealing engagement so that beverage leakage and spilling are prevented even during inattentive use by a person consuming a meal held by the mealholder.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mobile-dining mealholder plate-lid which is of one-piece construction and is easily manufactured and yet provides all of the above-mentioned advantages in detachable engagement with a beverage container.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mobile-dining mealholder plate-lid which, although made of an inexpensive thermoformed plastic piece, resists excessive flexing despite substantial vertical loads thereon from foodstuffs and from dining movements.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved mobile-dining mealholder having a plate-lid with a lid portion particularly suited to resist unintended disengagement of the beverage container and plate-lid.
Another object of of the invention is to provide an improved mobile-dining mealholder having a plate-lid with a lid portion resisting unintended disengagement of the beverage container and plate-lid caused by squeezing of the beverage container.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mobile-dining mealholder with the above-noted advantages and which is formed to accommodate foodstuffs and servings of characteristic shapes and sizes for easy serving presentation and for convenient control during mobile dining.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved mobile-dining mealholder with the above-noted advantages and which further serves to shield and maintain the heat of hot food served thereon.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide an improved mobile-dining mealholder allowing convenient control of solid footstuffs and simultaneous easy consumption of a beverage with minimal manual involvement.
Another object is to provide an improved mobile-dining mealholder having advantages as described above and further providing such advantages in a mealholder which accommodates beverage containers of varying selected sizes.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following descriptions and from the drawings.
This invention is an improved mobile-dining mealholder which overcomes a number of significant disadvantages, shortcomings and problems of mealholders of the prior art, and is a highly convenient tool usable, for example, by the fast-food industry and by people who are dining xe2x80x9con the go.xe2x80x9d The inventive mealholder has two principal partsxe2x80x94a beverage container and a plate-lidxe2x80x94which are detachably combined. The invention also involves the plate-lid for such combination.
More specifically, the mobile-dining mealholder of this invention includes a beverage cup (or xe2x80x9ccontainerxe2x80x9d) which has a lip with an annular bead thereabout, the bead projecting radially outwardly to form a lower surface, and a plate-lid of particular configuration for snap-fit 360xc2x0 sealing engagement of the plate-lid and container lip. The plate-lid includes (a) a circular and horizontal lid portion overlying the lip of the container and (b) a tray portion extending outwardly from the lid portion and having horizontally-arranged food-holding areas spaced about the lid portion. The lid portion terminates in a downward annular skirt which extends to a lower edge and has an inner surface with an annular radially necked-in portion along and around the skirt. The necked-in portion engages the lower surface of the bead around the container to provide snap-fit sealing of the lid portion with the lip. The container and its bead and the plate-lid and its skirt are configured and arranged to maintain snap-fit sealing engagement despite food-loading and usage forces.
In highly preferred embodiments, the tray portion of the plate-lid extends outwardly from the lower edge of the skirt. Most preferably, the tray portion is integral with the lower edge of the skirt of the lid portion and the lid portion and tray portion are a single integral piece.
The tray portion of the plate-lid of the mobile-dining mealholder of this invention preferably includes at least one food-receiving depressed region formed therein, and most preferably a plurality of food-receiving depressed regions spaced about the lid portion. The food-receiving depressed regions can be specifically shaped to easily receive and hold specific foods.
In highly preferred embodiments, the tray portion, by virtue of the one or more depressed regions, has vertically-extending portions positioned and arranged such that, for each of a plurality of imaginary horizontal pivot lines across the tray portion and adjacent to the lid portion, at least one of the vertically-extending portions is transverse to the pivot line, thereby providing reinforcement against excessive flexing about such pivot line. The walls of the depressed regions, which of course have vertical components, typically form the vertically-extending portions.
Downward flexing/bending pressure is applied to whatever portion or portions of the tray carry food; the weight of the food imposes tends to flex or rotate the normally horizontal tray about a horizontal pivot line extending between the lid portion and the area to which the downward load is applied. The depressed region or regions is or are positioned and arranged such that at least one vertically-extending portion is transverse to such horizontal pivot line, and thereby serves to reinforce the tray portion to minimize bending of the tray portion generally around such pivot line.
Certain highly preferred embodiments of the type just described also include at least one rib formed in the tray portion, such rib or ribs being positioned and arranged on the tray portion of the plate-lid in a manner enhancing reinforcement against excessive flexing of the tray portion about at least one of the imaginary pivot lines.
The positioning and arrangement of the depressed region(s) themselves, or the positioning and arrangement of the depressed region(s) and ribbing taken together, provide important directionally-focused reinforcement for the purpose of making the mobile-dining mealholder of this invention function properlyxe2x80x94both to support the meal and to accommodate miscellaneous vertical loading forces imposed on the tray portion during normal dining movements of the user. These important features allow the plate-lid to be thinner than would otherwise be the case.
In certain embodiments, a separate removable dome is placed over a particular depressed region. The dome has a dome edge portion for placement on the tray portion about the depressed region, and the depressed region has vertically-extending surfaces thereabout which are positioned to engage the dome edge portion in order to keep the dome in vertical alignment over the depressed region.
In certain preferred embodiments having a food-receiving depressed region, the depressed region has a specified depth based upon a selected foodstuff serving or portion to be received in it. The depressed region is formed to receive a serving which is particular in size or in size and shape. In certain of these embodiments, the depressed region has a boundary and includes at least one finger-access portion at the boundary which has a depth less than the specified depth. This facilitates pick-up of a food item in such depressed region.
In some preferred embodiments, a depressed region has an opening through it which serves to provide flexibility for positioning certain foodstuffs which, by virtue of their shapes (typically elongate shapes), may need to extend through and below the tray portion in order to be properly held by the tray portion. In such cases, one portion of the foodstuff is held in the depressed region and another portion extends below the tray portion. Examples of such foodstuffs are lollipops and bananas. Also, an opening within a depressed region may be utilized to accommodate a wrapping for a food item.
In certain preferred embodiments, the tray portion of the plate-lid has an outer edge and a vertically-extending edge portion formed along the outer edge. This itself provides some reinforcement against excessive flexing of the tray portion under loads imposed thereon. The most preferred embodiments will have both a vertically-extending edge portion and a plurality of food-receiving depressed regions configured and arranged to provide the aforementioned reinforcement against excessive flexing.
Certain embodiments having a vertically-extending edge portion formed along the outer edge also include a removable tray cover. The tray cover has a cover edge portion which is configured for placement on the plate-lid along the vertically-extending outer edge thereof, thereby to position the tray cover with respect to the tray portion.
In certain preferred embodiments of this invention, the outer edge of the tray portion includes a near edge and a far edge and the lid portion, rather than being centrally located on the tray portion, is located adjacent to the near edge. This arrangement enables the user to hold the beverage and food close to his or her body to facilitate drinking and eating, and this advantage is particularly achieved when the near edge is substantially straight.
In preferred embodiments of this invention, the lid portion of the plate-lid has downwardly-extending anti-collapse structure which is spaced radially inwardly from the skirt and the container lip at positions adjacent to the container. When a beverage container is engaged with the plate-lid, the anti-collapse structure is positioned closely adjacent to the inside wall of the container. In the event of any radial squeezing of the beverage container by the user, the anti-collapse structure serves to protect the snap-fit engagement from inadvertent disengagement. Such anti-collapse structure tends to allow the plate-lid to be made thinner than would otherwise be the case. In one preferred form, the downwardly-extending anti-collapse structure is a plurality of arcuately-spaced arcuate segments which together form an interrupted annulus.
In certain highly preferred embodiments of this invention, the plate-lid has two (or more) of the above-described downward annular skirts, each in the form described which facilitates engagement with a beverage container. The two or more annular skirts have different diameters to accommodate snap-fit engagement with beverage containers of different sizes. Most preferably, the annular skirt (or skirts) of greater diameter circumscribes the annular skirt (or skirts) of lesser diameter.
In most preferred embodiments of the invention, the lid portion of the plate-lid has a straw-receiving opening therethrough so that the user can gain access to the beverage within the beverage container.
This invention also involves the improved mealholder plate-lid as described above, which forms the major structure of the improved mealholder.
This invention provides a significant change and dramatic improvement in the manner in which xe2x80x9cfast-foodxe2x80x9d meals are presented to people xe2x80x9con the go,xe2x80x9d including, for example, people who purchase xe2x80x9cfast-foodxe2x80x9d meals using drive-through facilities. The invention provides an easy and convenient way to dine in those situations in which a tabletop (to support plates and other dishes) is unavailable.
The two principal parts of the mobile-dining mealholder of this invention are firmly engaged to one another so that, even though support of the mealholder is solely by the user""s grasp of the beverage container, foodstuffs are reliably and confidently supported on the plate-lid during dining. Indeed, the invention provides a reliable sealing engagement which also resists beverage leakage and spilling despite inattentive use by a person consuming a meal. The plate-lid of this invention, even when made of a thin thermoformed plastic piece, as is preferred, serves to resist excessive flexing despite substantial vertical loads thereon from foodstuffs and from dining movements.
The plurality of food-receiving depressed regions in the plate-lids of preferred embodiments are not only formed to accommodate a variety of specific solid foods and types of foods, but they are configured and arranged to provide reinforcement against the excessive flexing (or collapse) which would otherwise be caused by such foods and by typical movements during eating. Specific forms of such plate-lids may readily accommodate, e.g., a burger, French fries and condiments (ketchup) or a variety of alternatives; other forms can accommodate, e.g., nachos and cheese. Virtually endless varieties are possible to provide mobile-dining mealholders which readily accommodate the needs of nearly any prepared food retailer and its customers.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cmobile-dining,xe2x80x9d in describing a mealholder, refers to the ability to be carried easily in one hand by a person who is eating a meal without sitting down at a table. Of course, the mobile-dining mealholder of this invention may be used in other ways as well.
The use directional terms like xe2x80x9clower,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9chorizontally-arrangedxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cvertically-extendingxe2x80x9d refer to the mobile-dining mealholder or its principal parts in their normal usage orientationsxe2x80x94i.e., with the beverage container in an upright position. The term xe2x80x9cvertically-extending,xe2x80x9d used in describing portions of the tray portion of the plate-lid, refers to the fact that there is a change in the vertical position; the term does not require that the portion in question itself be oriented at 90xc2x0 to a horizontal plane. The term xe2x80x9coutwardlyxe2x80x9d as used in referring to the relationship of the tray portion of the plate-lid to the lid portion of the plate-lid refers to an extension from the lid portion in a generally horizontal direction.
The term xe2x80x9cannularxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to a ring-like or encircling quality, but does not require continuity. Likewise, terms such as xe2x80x9ctherearoundxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cthereaboutxe2x80x9d require existence all around something, even if not in continuous form.
The term xe2x80x9cintegralxe2x80x9d used in describing the relationship of one portion of the plate-lid to another means that the portions are not just joined to one another, but are formed together, such as in a thermoforming or other plastic fabrication process.
The term xe2x80x9cimaginary horizontal pivot linesxe2x80x9d refers to a mathematical line; it is imaginary only in the sense that it does not involve any visible indication. The term xe2x80x9ctransverse,xe2x80x9d of course, means across or at an angle to something, but not necessarily at an angle of 90xc2x0.
The terms xe2x80x9cnear edgexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cfar edge,xe2x80x9d used in reference to portions of the outer edge of the plate-lid, refer to the edges which are, respectively, closest to and farthest from the body of the user during dining.
The term xe2x80x9cadjacent to,xe2x80x9d used in describing the positioning of the anti-collapse structure on the underside of the lid portion of the plate-lid, includes both positioning for contact with the inside surface of the beverage cup and positioning closely spaced from the inside surface of the cup. When closely spaced, the spacing is close enough that any more than minimal squeezing of the cup will cause the inner surface of the cup to move into contact with the the anti-collapse structure; specifically, the anti-collapse structure is close enough to resist squeezing which would otherwise be sufficient to cause disengagement of the beverage cup from the plate-lid.